RedX's & ZinthO's
by Sacred Dust
Summary: He's not sure who he is. She's still coming to terms with what she is. Their uncertainties will strike closer to home than they ever imagined. Raven/Red-X ; , minor Rob/Star.
1. Ruffled Feathers

_A/N: An unusual kind of Raven/Red-X romance. It could have been a deeply serious and sad reflection on the disguises we all wear sometimes just to get through life. But I was in a lighter mood when I started it, so here we are. The allegory about masks might be there somewhere. Or you might just be reading too much into it. :D Hope you like this as much as I liked writing it and review._ _I don't own Teen Titans.__ -SD_

**Red-X's & Zinth-O's**

Chapter 1: Ruffled Feathers

_Teen_

_Titans_

Most people did not sit down to have pizza for dinner at ten-o-clock at night.

Of course, Raven reflected, most people were not teenage superheroes.

"Hey, hey!" Beast Boy shouted at Cyborg from across the table. "That's one of _my_ slices!"

"No it's not," the giant bot lifted it to his mouth.

"Dude, yeah it is! Just look at it."

Starfire and Robin exchanged amused looks. Raven simply sat there between them, her eyebrow twitching faintly.

Cyborg gave him a bored look. "No, grass stain. I am _not_ gonna look at it. Because there is no way I could have picked up a piece of your nasty tofu pizza without noticing. Because my pizza instincts are just too good for that."

"But it's _right on there!"_

"Sorry, not listenin'," Cy took a huge bite, turned a unique shade of brownish-green and promptly spewed it onto the table.

Beast Boy slapped his ample forehead. "See? See? Now you just wasted a perfectly good piece of my special tofu pizza because you wouldn't listen to me, because your _brain_ is offline or something."

Raven's other eyebrow twitched as they argued loudly in front of her.

"Damn, man," Cyborg choked into his napkin. "What are you doing sneakin' that onto my plate? Really not cool."

"_Sneaking it?_ Have you got two tin ears?" The green changeling flailed his arms wildly.

Double-brow action from Raven.

"You're going to need a metal mouth when I'm done with you!"

"Bring it on, tough guy!"

An impending clash of the Titans was interrupted when the table exploded, sending the pizza ceiling-high. Beast Boy and Cy sprawled out of their chairs as Starfire gasped. Raven reached up, caught one of the boxes and moodily started munching a slice of sausage and mushroom.

"Um…sorry, Raven." Cyborg said lightly.

Beast Boy nodded. "Our bad, Rae." She stopped chewing and looked at him. "I mean Raven! Ra-VEN. That's your name. Big black bird, just like that. Yep." She was still looking at him. "…I think I'm gonna turn in early. Night guys!"

He sprinted for his room.

Raven swallowed and continued to stare sullenly at the remains of the table. Starfire watched her with a worried expression. "Friend Raven, that was not like you. Are you feeling all of the right?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's got a point, Raven," Robin said firmly. "You haven't been that testy for a long time."

"I'm fine." Suddenly she couldn't finish her slice fast enough. She left the crust and stood up, accidentally banging her ankle on the chair leg. She winced and turned on it furiously. The chair disintegrated half a second later. "…Really, I'm fine."

She left the three of them sitting awkwardly and choking on sawdust.

"Aw, man," Cyborg groaned. "There goes some good pizza."

"We do not know that, Cyborg! The chair may be a very delicious garnish." Starfire was trying a slice of pepperoni and wood chip before anyone could stop her. "Urmmmfh…"

"Spit that out, Star," Robin said calmly. "Look, Cy, I'm going to talk to Raven. She's probably got something bugging her. But just to be on the safe side, keep it down to a dull roar with Beast Boy, all right? And tell him I said so."

The bot nodded silently. Robin left him to mourn over the interrupted meal.

_Titans_

Raven slid her bedroom door closed and walked over to the window to check the night sky. Some good meditation weather would keep this from being a totally crappy day. Fortunately, there were no clouds in sight.

She allowed herself a thin smile and concentrated her power, preparing to teleport to the roof. An insistent knock on the door shattered her concentration. She growled and went to answer it.

Unsurprisingly, it was a traffic light with eyes. "Raven, we need to talk." And a mouth.

Talking was the last thing she felt like doing now. "In the morning."

"Now. That's an order."

Twitch. "You can order me to fight crime. You can't order me to talk to you."

The white in his mask lessened, symbolizing a glare. "It's for the good of the team."

Twitch times two. This was getting old. "Me getting some quiet time and sleep is for the good of the team. You are interrupting both."

"Look, Raven, I know I don't usually push this hard, but—"

"No. You don't. And it is _upsetting me,"_ she snapped. Dark energy coursed around her body, allowing the point to sink in. "You know the old Robin, the one who cared about my feelings?"

"What do you mean, I don't—"

"Find him and tell him I'll see him in the morning."

Slam.

Robin stood there silently, clenching and unclenching his fists. Frustrated leader-ish thoughts churned around in his head. _But I have to…she can't talk to me like…what is wrong with…damn it._

He turned and stalked off to his own room. This was going to be harder than he thought.


	2. Roofin' Off

_A/N: I sat down and wrote a lot of this in a rush, so there's really no reason to put an Author's Note on this chapter. I will anyway because I have an extremely large ego. Here's my note: The Amazing Mumbo is my least favorite villain. There._

Chapter 2: Roofin' Off

_Titans_

"Azarath…"

The mystic chant washed away her stress like waves on a white sand beach.

"Metrion…"

The cosmos opened their arms to her, and her mind flew among the stars.

"Zinthos."

Recently enjoyed food caused a glorious release of excess gas from her mouth.

"_Burp. _Damn it!" she quit levitating and covered up as if someone could have heard. "Cut it out, Rude."

Even without Robin butting in, she just couldn't concentrate. This had been a rough week for her. If it wasn't annoying teammates it was her emotions acting up—Rage in particular. She was feeling a bit sluggish in battle, drawing out a recent clash with Killer Moth that should have been a cake walk. Often she woke up in the middle of the night with her senses on high alert, and took forever to go back to sleep. Yesterday she'd even chuckled reflexively at one of Beast Boy's jokes; fortunately they were alone in the room and none of the others believed him.

Raven knew what was wrong: she was bored. Sick of the dull nine to five-ish routine that had defined her life since Slade disappeared and they knocked out the Brotherhood of Evil. Something desperately needed to happen. She was ready to search her books for another evil dragon spirit to fall in love with, just to break up the tedium.

"Come on, Dad," she muttered to the starry sky. "Stick your head into the dimension one more time, just so I can punch it back out. I'm dying here." No response, fortunately.

"Wow. I've been hard up for a fight before, but not quite _that_ hard up."

She turned slowly, startled but hiding it well.

A black figure stood about 20 feet away. At first it could have been anybody, a silhouette against the stars. But then Raven made out his slender figure and the white skull design on his mask. An 'X' winked at her from one side of it.

_This clown again,_ muttered Rage. _See what he wants, it's better than nothing,_ said Wise.

Raven settled somewhere between them with a deadpan remark. "I'm sorry, sir. We don't want any."

"No? Maybe you should see what I have to offer." Sleazy as ever. His mechanically altered voice rang in her ears and seemed to vibrate through her, leaving her thoughts somewhat askew.

"Do I get a discount for putting up with your attitude?"

"That _is_ the offer for now, sunshine. Take it or leave it." The thief looked as smug as she remembered. Even with a full-body costume he oozed arrogance, strolling on top of Titan Tower as if he owned it.

"You just lost a sale. Bye." she said shortly, and turned as if to leave. Raven wasn't going to let this guy do cartwheels on the roof all night without telling the others. But she did want to see his reaction.

"Wait." That was quick. "I've been watching you lately, you know."

Eyeroll. "Thank you. I'll alert the authorities."

"You appear very stressed. Almost…frustrated. Could it be from loneliness?"

Damn Robin for making that suit and letting it get stolen by such a bad flirt. The guy was really asking for it this time, and she had plenty of "it" to spare. Her eyes flickered red. "Enough already. If you've got a problem, I'll settle it for you right now. If not, get out of here and go steal something."

He strolled over to her, head tilted to one side. "It's sweet of you to think of my needs, Raven. But there's already something I want."

"You're going to want your face back if you take one step closer to me." That voice again. Reverberating through her head. _And down, _one of her peskier emotions whispered.

_Oh Gods_, she retorted._ Please tell me that was a joke._

Red-X's shoulders slumped. "Cold. That hurt, sunshine."

"I don't care! And _don't_…" She had to take a deep breath to restrain Anger. His shoulders twitched, as though he knew what had almost happened. "…Don't call me that."

"So you don't care."

"No, I don't." Raven felt her emotions all shouting for her attention at once. She didn't know what about, but it couldn't be good.

He shrugged. "Fair enough. I'll make you feel even better, and take one step away." He did.

"Very nice. Now let's see if you can do it a thousand more times!"

"Maybe I will," Red-X shrugged and continued to back up to the edge of the tower. "Are you counting?"

Her throat suddenly felt dry, not only from his impossibly smooth and self-assured motion, but his backward stroll into oblivion. He wasn't really going to…

"Good enough?" he was at the edge now. Raven found her vocal chords uncooperative. "Tough crowd. Okay, then…one more just for you, sweet cheeks."

He stepped off.

"_Wait!"_ the word tore from her throat. She nearly fell in her haste to get to the edge, looking down to see…

Nothing. He was gone.

Not gone as in falling to a pointless and richly deserved death, but simply vanished.

_Damn him, _Anger snarled. _DAMN him for making you care, even for a second! _Destructive energy consumed her being and demanded release.

At a bookstore a few blocks from Titan Tower, the entire section of vampire romance novels suddenly exploded.

All of Jump City rejoiced.


	3. Rendezvous

_A/N: On this edition of Author's Note, we will be discussing the Teen Titans' poor battle strategy! With our special guest, Raven!_

_RAVEN: Yeah. Hi._

_A/N: Thanks for coming on. So here's the first question, Raven. You guys have been fighting crime for at least a few years, in canon. So for the love of all that's Warner, why do you lose the first battle in so many episodes? And why do you always go at enemies one by one and get picked off? Just attack at the _same time_ for crying out loud! _

_RAVEN: Um…_

_A/N: And after being threatened with the end of the world, why are you still running off half-cocked into every fight with no strategy and getting blindsided? Gees! So that's the question…for such a potentially great fighting force, why are you guys getting your asses beat to this day?_

_RAVEN: GRRRRRR…_*blows up Sacred Dust.* _…It's a new day._

_Teen_

Chapter 3: Rendezvous

_Titans_

Ahh, breakfast. The most irritating meal of the day.

"Gees, man, not more of that tofu junk! I've had enough of that for a lifetime."

"For your information, these are _real_ eggs."

Cyborg turned to Beast Boy and blinked, as did Starfire. "Really? I mean, for _real_ they're real? You never make those."

The vegan shrugged self-consciously and turned down the stove. "Yeah, well. I can hear those poor chickens clucking deep in my soul already, but…you know. First time for embryo—I mean, everything." He coughed and not tried not to look directly in the pan. "Besides…Raven, you know?"

"Oh, right," Cyborg nodded slowly. "Give her a quiet breakfast and all. I'm cool with that."

"Still gonna whip your butt at _Bloodbucket 3: Operation Deathkill_, though."

"_Ha!_ Yes, someday, in an alternate dimension when I'm missing an arm and not feeling well, you _may_ beat me in _Operation Deathkill."_

Robin sat back tiredly, only half-listening. He was glad they were making an effort. Now if only he could talk to Raven alone for a second, maybe…_Okay, here she comes. Don't say the wrong thing. Whatever that might be today._ His fingers drummed on the glass coffee table they were using in place of the real one.

As usual Raven sat down without a word. She'd slept all right for once…but why? Maybe the stunt show from a a certain narcissistic thief had drained her energy.

One of her emotions chimed in. _Maybe you wanted to dream about… _Raven grit her teeth and interrupted. _No. Do not even go there with me._

She found herself drawing an audience as she picked at her eggs. _Eyes. Staring superpowered eyes. _A staring mask in her glorious leader's case.

"Okay, I confess. I was the one on the grassy knoll. And I'm sorry about the table. Now can you guys not stare at me?"

Starfire beamed with relief. "No apology is needed, friend Raven. We were only concerned with your being well."

Cyborg also began to breathe easier. "Well, then…if you don't mind, Raven, I want to ask grass stain here why my eggs are _crunchy."_

"I'm not used to the shells! At least I put some effort into 'em. You don't even use milk."

"You mean _soy_ milk," Cy did a double take and looked at his plate. "And tell me you did not put that fake milk in these!"

Things proceeded tolerably from there. Robin continued to study her as they finished. She expected to be cornered into a talk and they stood up and the others did the dishes. He did not disappoint; he saved that for the actual "talking" part.

"Raven." Her eyebrow moved. It was a raise and not a twitch, but he seemed thrown off already. "Can we…talk about last night?"

Raven shrugged. "I was in a bad mood. That's all." She doubted if this was a good time to mention X.

"I noticed. Look, it's not about what you said. It's what _I_ said. I mean, what I did. When I…" His tone sharpened to disguise his uncertainty. Too late. "I mean, before we went to bed—"

Raven wanted to read his mind just to get it over with, but they'd agreed not to use that link without mutual permission. She held up a gray hand to stop him. "Robin. This is the part where we say 'sorry' and go on pretending to understand each other."

"I know, it's just—" He was mercifully interrupted by the villain alarm. For once, Raven was the first one out of the Tower.

_Titans_

Downtown Jump City had become the venue for a giant magic show. Not the kind anyone would pay to see...but that looked unavoidable as The Amazing Mumbo took off with a sack full of money fresh from the bank. The cops tried to stop him, but were foiled with giant playing cards and devastating seltzer blasts to the face.

As Mumbo rounded a corner to make his getaway, the heroes watched atop a theater with a rusting marquis advertising such quality films as _The Final Spank._ Robin tensed and leaned forward, a bundle of nervous energy. "Right. Ready, guys? Titans, g—"

"Whoa, whoa. _Wait._ I've gotta say something here." Beast Boy snapped.

They stared goggle-eyed at him, Raven included. Robin's mouth actually fell open.

Cyborg scratched his head nervously. "Look, BB, if those chickens are still bugging you and all…"

"No. You're gonna yell 'Titans go' and give our position away right there. _Then_ we're gonna go after this guy one at a time with no idea what we're doing and get stomped for ten minutes! Please, Robin, just hear me out."

The leader stood by like a colorful statue while Beast Boy pulled the rest of them into a huddle. "All we need to do here is…"

Oblivious to the jarring shift in team dynamics taking place above him, Mumbo giggled like a schoolgirl skipping home. This was the easiest heist ever. He didn't even need the gag arm or the white rabbit with mange. As he looked for the nearest alleyway to disappear in, a dark energy field ripped the money bag from his hand.

"Huh?" the moment he looked up, a green tiger pounced on him and forced him to the ground. Mumbo whipped out a handkerchief to make him vanish in, but one of Starfire's bolts burned it away. Cyborg's cannon fried his gag arm just as it burst out of his top hat, and a birdarang shattered his magic wand even as he whipped it out.

Mumbo reverted to a helpless old man, trying to recall the number of the Titan-colored bus that ran him over. Robin reverted to a statue, only standing on the sidewalk this time.

Beast Boy changed back and approached him with caution. "So…was I out of line back there?"

After a long and ominous silence, Robin turned to face him. "No. You were right."

"…But?"

He shook his head sadly. "It's my fault. _I'm_ supposed to think of that stuff. I'm supposed to think about…" His eye caught Raven as she stepped in front of him. "About the consequences of my actions. And right now…I just can't."

He walked away as if in a trance.

"Wait! Robin, hold on to it!" Starfire called, concern etched in her delicate features.

"You mean 'hold on,' Star." Cy chuckled.

"Hold on, Robin!" she flew off to cheer up her boyfriend.

_Good luck, _Raven thought with a sigh. She bent down to pick up his stray birdarang; no sense leaving it in the street for some kid to hurt himself with. When she did, something rustled against her cloak.

She blinked and felt around inside of it, finally extracting a piece of paper that had been attached with…red glue.

_No way. There's _no way_ he could have done that._

She looked all around for signs of him. She even soul-searched the whole block for his obnoxious aura. Nothing. Just Robin and Star down the street, Cy and Beast Boy talking to the cops, the defeated Mumbo being arrested and some innocent onlookers with bad breath.

Curiosity begged her to read the note, and she gave in.

**You were amazing last night, sunshine. I think I'm still falling for you. But maybe I'll drop in tonight. Insert pickup line here,**

**X**

Irritation burned the note to cinders while it was still in her hand. The _nerve_ of that guy. She could have 15 other Titans waiting to step on his neck when he showed up.

But she wouldn't. And unless he was a total idiot, he knew it.

"Hey, Raven!" Cy ran up to her wearing Mumbo's hat. "Wanna catch the first act of The Amazing Cyborg?"

"Can we skip it? I already saw you in Vegas."

He removed the hat with a flourish, reached in and lifted out Beast Boy in rabbit form. Both of them dissolved in laughter.

_Scratch that, _she thought. _All_ _guys are total idiots._

Her leader was mental, her friends were bugging her, and a wanted criminal was hitting on her. Why was she smiling?


	4. Repeat Engagement

_A/N:Apologies galore for the ridiculous delay on this chapter. I got wrapped up tightly in some other projects and put this one aside for a bit, but I'm back for more fun with the Titans.  
_

_Some of you may be enjoying the story so far, but you're wondering where it's going and what it will accomplish. The answers will form soon enough. What are X's motives, have Raven's fighting skills improved since the end of Season 5, and what was in Robin's mysterious briefcase in that one episode—which, in fact, Red helped him to retrieve? Finally, does anyone actually eat sardines? (No.)_

_Teen_

Chapter 4: Repeat Engagement

_Titans_

Raven always made it very obvious when she wanted to meditate. She attached spooky artifacts to her door to ward off evil spirits, she would catch Robin's eye a certain way and he would nod, she even told the other Titans "I need to meditate now."

So it went without saying that she was interrupted _all the time._

Today she had been very lucky. A hot bath with imported Asian candles made up for the shower she rushed through that morning, then she had three hours of concentration with just a brief rupture at the beginning. (Cy shot his Gamestation controller when he lost to Beast Boy.)

_Man, I needed that, _said Patient. Raven exhaled one last time and allowed her feet to touch the floor. _I wish we could have stayed that way forever, _Timid sighed. _You could if you just dumped all these pesky non-demons, _Anger reminded her.

"Shut up," she muttered. It was too nice a day to be having those thoughts. As much as her friends distracted her, they also balanced her. They kept her mind out of the clouds and her body out of the infernal depths. Starfire's jaunt to the future and the ordeal with Trigon had proven it.

Naturally, Raven was about to risk this precious balance by humoring the crude attentions of a sociopathic vagrant.

Even as she took a volume about chakra down from the mahogany shelf, she doubted that a quiet night of reading was in the cards.

_Cards. A man is placing tarot cards on your bare body, then telling your fortune as he takes you…_

"Shut UP, Lust!" she slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing what she just said out loud. _I don't need any of your twisted fantasies right now._

_Wait, it gets better this time. The man is wearing a mask. _That_ mask…_

She growled angrily and flipped the book open, forcing herself to read. What was she seeing in him? Nothing. Nothing that anyone would see unless they were young and stupid. And it was time to relax among her forgotten lore and occult artifacts and stop thinking about it.

"Chakras. Interesting." Someone said.

"Yeah," she nodded vaguely, before jumping five feet.

Red-X leaned on the bookcase, arms crossed as he read over her shoulder. The window stood open behind him. "I like the _atala_ myself."

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" she blurted out.

"Don't tell me you missed my note."

"No. I burned it. Like I'm going to do to you if you don't get out!"

"Nice digs you've got here. A little morbid, but nice." Paying her no heed, the outlaw strolled across the room and planted himself on her couch. He leaned forward and steepled his hands elegantly below his chin."I must say you are an intriguing patient, Miss Roth. So much innate hostility. Would you like to touch on these trust issues today? Or if you like, we can continue to explore your feelings about your father…"

Raven felt the red building behind her eyes, begging to come out. Why did he always get to her like this? _I know why,_ a familiar emotion whispered. Raven sighed. _Do you ever shut up?_ _Let me handle this._

"Back off a little, X. If you came here for company, I think you need the shrink routine more than me."

"Do tell."

"Your obsession with being places you don't belong, touching things that aren't yours…would you like to talk about your 'naughty little boy' complex today?" He stiffened a little. Wonderful. "And maybe I'll use my powers to plant some nightmares in your head, and we can talk about those when you come back tomorrow. If you ever wake up from them."

_I should have been a psychologist._ On the other hand, she had just encouraged him to return. Damn.

"Finally there's your disregard for your own safety. I mean, here you are trying to pick up a girl who could separate your soul from your flesh over breakfast…and you're doing a lousy job of it, too."

Red-X moved. He was like a shadow of her own weakness, not just walking but almost gliding across the floor. Raven blinked in surprise and then he was in front of her. "Am I?"

Her heart nearly pounded out of her chest. But she held firm, staring daggers at where his eyes should be. Drinking in his aura was instinctive, almost involuntary, and a rich blend of strong emotions washed over her. The beckoning heat of his desire mixed with the piercing chill of self-confidence made her head swim. And beneath it all, a lukewarm acridity that could only be doubt and a deep, knawing uncertainty.

That part of him felt so…_familiar._ It could have been her own.

"Well," X spoke up again. He held up a gray metal suitcase with a yellow "R" on it. Raven's eyes widened as she realized it was Robin's. Only he knew what was in it, and he never let it out of the tower. Except for that one time when…

"I hope you don't think you're leaving with that," Raven said.

"But I was always so curious about what was inside," Red-X said innocently. "Anyway, I have to. Otherwise you might not come after me, and then neither of us would have any fun tonight. You understand."

He was going for the window.

She threw an easy chair across his path. He vaulted right over it and kept going. She made the window slam shut and he jumped right through, sending shards of glass spinning into the moonlight.

Raven stood frozen in disbelief for a moment, but hurried to the opening and floated out. X was rappelling down the metal wall with amazing speed, using a cable he must have attached earlier. She took hold of it with her powers, but the thief let go and fell the rest of the way to the ocean.

_Oh, the consequences of boredom_, Wise lamented.

_Nothing we can do about it now,_ Raven answered herself.

She took a deep breath and soared into the night, hot on the trail of his aura.


End file.
